Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2008-09: Colin Stevens played prep school hockey at Albany Academy and was selected by Indiana in the fourth round of the 2009 USHL Futures Draft.

2009-10: Stevens was 3-1 in four games with the Boston Junior Bruins in four showcase games as a 16-year-old and was the top goalie in the Empire Junior Hockey League. He appeared in three games with the USA National Team Development Program’s U17 team. In 26 regular season Empire League games he was 23-1-2 with six shutouts and had a 1.66 goals against and .937 save percentage. Stevens was 4-2 with a 2.66 goals against and .904 save percentage in six Empire playoff games.

2010-11: Stevens played for the Boston Junior Bruins EJHL squad in his second season with the organization. Splitting the goaltending chores with Kenneth MacLean, he was 24-3 with five shutouts and had a 2.41 goals against and .926 save percentage in 29 regular season games. The Junior Bruins finished second in the Northern Division to the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs and swept Springfield in a quarterfinal series before falling to the Monarchs. Stevens was 1-1 with a 2.75 goals against and .922 save percentage in two playoff games. In April 2011 he committed to playing college hockey at Union College in 2012-13.

2011-12:Stevens arrived at Union College a year earlier than expected — playing in 11 games as a backup to sophomore Troy Grosenick (San Jose) in his freshman season. He ws 4-2-4 with a 2.25 goals against and .913 save percentage. The Dutchmen finished first in ECAC Hockey and captured the league tournament title. Union defeated Michigan State and Massachusetts-Lowell in the NCAA East regional tournament to reach the Frozen Four; falling to Ferris State, 3-1, in a semifinal game.

2012-13: Stevens appeared in 12 games for Union College as a sophomore; again backing up Grosenick. He was 5-3-0 with three shutouts and had a 1.62 goals against and .931 save percentage. Union finished fourth in ECAC Hockey in the regular season but captured the league’s playoff title to earn its third straight NCAA berth. The Dutchmen topped defending national champion Boston College, 5-1, in the East Regional semifinals before falling to ECAC rival Quinnipiac.

2013-14: Stevens stepped into the starting role for Union College after Grosenick signed a pro contract following his junior season; back-stopping the Dutchmen to the first NCAA national championship in school history. Playing in 36 of 42 games, he was 28-4-2 in his junior season and had six shutouts, finishing the year with a 2.05 goals against and .929 save percentage. After losing back-to-back games in January the Dutchmen went 16-0-1 in their final 17 games , finishing first in ECAC Hockey and then winning the ECAC Hockey and Frozen Four tournament titles.

2014-15:Stevens signed an entry-level contract with the Florida Panthers in March 2015 following his senior season at Union College. The Dutchmen started slowly and struggled to reach the .500 mark after losing several players from the national championship team, finishing 10th in the 12-team ECAC Hockey League. Union swept Cornell in the ECAC opening round before falling to Quinnipiac in the decisive third game of their quarterfinal series. Stevens finished the year 16-15-0 in 31 games and had two shutouts with a 2.31 goals against and .920 save percentage.

2015-16: Stevens played for the Manchester Monarchs in the ECHL in his first pro season. Sharing goaltending duties with Michael Houser and former Massachusetts-Lowell goalie Doug Carr, he was 15-9-2 with two shutouts and had a 2.77 goals against and .908 save percentage. The Monarchs finished first in the East Division before falling to Adirondack in a first-round playoff series. Stevens started one playoff game, stopping 19 of 22 shots in a 4-2 loss to the Thunder.

Talent Analysis

A goaltender with good size at 6-foot-2, Stevens comes to the Panthers organization with a winning pedigree, having backstopped Union to a national championship in 2014. He’s left-handed, and while he isn’t the quickest goaltender from post-to-post, his positioning is a major strength.

Future

Stevens played for the ECHL's Manchester Monarchs in 2015-16. Heading into the second year of his original entry-level contract, he will challenge for a spot with the AHL's Portland Pirates. Stevens is still developing as a professional goalie and more will be known about his long-term potential following the 2016-17 season.

Photo: Union College forward Daniel Carr was the only Dutchmen player among the NCAA’s top 50 scorers, with Carr sitting eighth overall in the nation after notching 48 points in 37 games (courtesy of Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images)

Boston College (Hockey East), Minnesota (Big Ten), North Dakota (NCHC) and Union College (ECAC) comprise this year’s NCAA Frozen Four field taking place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. With the exception of North Dakota, all the teams in this year’s Frozen Four also played in the 2012 Frozen Four. Interestingly, Ferris State, who lost to North Dakota in the Midwest Regional final, was the other team in 2012.

Photo: University of Vermont forward Chris McCarthy, a top unsigned NCAA free agent, will lead the Catamounts into the NCAA East Regional in that school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010 (courtesy of Richard T. Gagnon/Getty Images)

The NCAA East Regional kicks off the 2014 NCAA Men's Hockey Tournament and takes place on March 28th and 29th at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT.

Union College is the top seed in this regional and is joined by Quinnipiac, Providence College and Vermont. The four teams have a combined 13 NHL prospects on their rosters, the fewest of all the regionals.

Photo: Quinnipiac University forward and Edmonton Oilers prospect Kellen Jones will be one of the main cogs in the Bobcats’ offensive attack in 2013-14 (courtesy of Jeanine Leech/Icon SMI)

The ECAC is one of two NCAA conferences that remain intact this season. And there are no changes to the membership in the foreseeable future.

In the first of two parts, Hockey’s Future takes a closer look at the six non-Ivy League programs in the ECAC that will feature 11 NHL prospects spread among five of the teams. Quinnipiac leads all non-Ivies with five, followed by Clarkson with three. St. Lawrence is the only non-Ivy league program without an NHL prospect on their roster this season.

Photo: Patrick Koudys will return to RPI where he will be expected to improve upon a solid freshman season. (Photo courtesy of Ken McKenna/HF)

This season, the ECAC features 23 NHL prospects. All member schools except St. Lawrence and Union College have at least one prospect on their roster. Harvard leads all conference schools with eight prospects, followed by Cornell with seven, and Clarkson and Colgate with five apiece.

The first installment looks at the six non-Ivy League schools.

Union CollegeNumber of NHL prospects: 0

The reigning ECAC regular season champions will look to successfully defend their crown when they open their 2011-12 season on October 8th at Army.

Union College was one of the best stories coming out of ECAC last season. The Dutchmen captured their first-ever ECAC regular season title and made their first NCAA Tournament appearance since becoming a D-I program in 1991. This season, Union College will look to build on last season’s success. But since their magical season ended, there have been some changes to the team.Read more»